Both JetBlue and Delta, the first two airlines to apply for a safety assessment with the Federal Aviation Administration, finally received approval on Friday afternoon—effectively immediately—to allow passengers to use their electronic devices during takeoff and landing, according to the companies' Twitter accounts. This comes just one day after the FAA announced that it would enact such a policy nationwide.

JetBlue's flight 2302 traveled from New York's JFK Airport to Buffalo. One passenger on that flight, Steph Yiu, said she was thrilled.

We're one of the first flights using the new FAA policy! The @JetBlue pilot came out to tell us, and we cheered :) pic.twitter.com/N9UszRwCua

No word yet on when other airlines will follow suit.

The FAA did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.

Cyrus Farivar
Cyrus is the Senior Business Editor at Ars Technica, and is also a radio producer and author. His latest book, Habeas Data, about the legal cases over the last 50 years that have had an outsized impact on surveillance and privacy law in America, is due out in May 2018 from Melville House. Emailcyrus.farivar@arstechnica.com//Twitter@cfarivar

I've got a JetBlue flight tomorrow, and I'm going to bring lots of consumer electronics devices just for the novelty of having them on and functional during takeoff and landing.

Life being what it is, an eagle-eyed TSA agent will observe these striking features:

* multiple electronic devices - as seen on "24"!* owner conversant with latest regulations - just as a determined attacker would be!* blissed-out euphoria - almost like a man resolved to die!* two legs, two arms, mammalian physiology - the exact template of EVERY 9/11 terrorist!

But six hours later when they've entirely run out of orifices to probe as a goodwill gesture the TSA will rebook you on Southwest

My understanding is that the "airplane mode" requirement is because a plane flying a 500mph will take the phone through so many cell towers so quickly that it really causes some network issues. Anyone care to elaborate?

My understanding is that the "airplane mode" requirement is because a plane flying a 500mph will take the phone through so many cell towers so quickly that it really causes some network issues. Anyone care to elaborate?

No, I don't know who started that rumour but the FAA does not make regulations at the convenience of cell network operators. Furthermore, if this was a real problem networks would already have been designed to handle it as not everyone actually puts their phone in airplane mode. It is simply a precaution because not all cellular radio frequencies were tested and proven not to cause interference with aircraft systems. (Of course it should be pointed out that tens or hundreds of thousands of people have left their cell phones transmitters on without incident, so in a practical sense we know that it is 100% safe to do so. In the next few years this number will grow into the millions. The FAA knows deep down inside that airplane mode is unnecessary too, otherwise cell phones would be banned on airplanes the way gasoline and explosives are.)

If I were an 31337 H4X0R I would take my laptop onto one of these planes and try to hack it. If it could be done I'd never fly again. I suggest the FAA have a hackathon to see if a plane could be hacked before letting just anyone leave their devices on.

And were I a 31337 H4X0R I'd surely already sneer at any petty rule about shutting down the very devices that are my pride, joy, and playpen, since such rules are surely there just to keep the sheep in line. The FAA may as well post a rule that all ne'er-do-wells comply with RFC 3514, then rejoicing that evil traffic is firewalled.

I assume the change is that you can have the device on - not that you can leave your phones cell connection active. Is that correct?

Also - isn't part of the reason they did this was so that people would be alert and listening during the important takeoff and landing periods, and not so wrapped up in music, books, movies, and podcasts that they couldn't take direction in case of an issue?

I assume the change is that you can have the device on - not that you can leave your phones cell connection active. Is that correct?

Also - isn't part of the reason they did this was so that people would be alert and listening during the important takeoff and landing periods, and not so wrapped up in music, books, movies, and podcasts that they couldn't take direction in case of an issue?

I also thought its so passengers are free of any entanglements during the time of highest risk of needing to evacuate the plane.

Don't pre-flight instructions happen before the call to shut down all PED? Maybe not, but in any case, the flight staff has to be seated during takeoff.

And even if the biggest benefit was preventing people from distracting themselves during important announcements, I am confident that nearly everyone ignored them anyway. I can't imagine attentiveness will drop much.

If I were an 31337 H4X0R I would take my laptop onto one of these planes and try to hack it. If it could be done I'd never fly again. I suggest the FAA have a hackathon to see if a plane could be hacked before letting just anyone leave their devices on.

My understanding is that the "airplane mode" requirement is because a plane flying a 500mph will take the phone through so many cell towers so quickly that it really causes some network issues. Anyone care to elaborate?

No, I don't know who started that rumour but the FAA does not make regulations at the convenience of cell network operators. Furthermore, if this was a real problem networks would already have been designed to handle it as not everyone actually puts their phone in airplane mode. It is simply a precaution because not all cellular radio frequencies were tested and proven not to cause interference with aircraft systems. (Of course it should be pointed out that tens or hundreds of thousands of people have left their cell phones transmitters on without incident, so in a practical sense we know that it is 100% safe to do so. In the next few years this number will grow into the millions. The FAA knows deep down inside that airplane mode is unnecessary too, otherwise cell phones would be banned on airplanes the way gasoline and explosives are.)

The FAA doesn't just know deep down that airplane mode is unnecessary, they have specifically stated that it is only still required due to an FCC requirement and has encouraged the FCC to revisit it.

Don't pre-flight instructions happen before the call to shut down all PED? Maybe not, but in any case, the flight staff has to be seated during takeoff.

And even if the biggest benefit was preventing people from distracting themselves during important announcements, I am confident that nearly everyone ignored them anyway. I can't imagine attentiveness will drop much.

I'm not talking about the announcements - takeoff and landing are by far the riskiest part of any flight, and it's not inconceivable that they would want your full attention for those few mins in case there was a problem.

Don't pre-flight instructions happen before the call to shut down all PED? Maybe not, but in any case, the flight staff has to be seated during takeoff.

And even if the biggest benefit was preventing people from distracting themselves during important announcements, I am confident that nearly everyone ignored them anyway. I can't imagine attentiveness will drop much.

I'm not talking about the announcements - takeoff and landing are by far the riskiest part of any flight, and it's not inconceivable that they would want your full attention for those few mins in case there was a problem.

Agreed, and hopefully those with much flying experience are paying a little extra attention at those times. But people who don't want to cooperate can just as easily read a magazine, chat, or otherwise ignore what's going on around them as the plane takes off and lands.

My understanding is that the "airplane mode" requirement is because a plane flying a 500mph will take the phone through so many cell towers so quickly that it really causes some network issues. Anyone care to elaborate?

I had a roommate a decade+ ago who worked on the cellular base stations, he said that planes full of phones handing off from tower to tower every couple seconds could cause serious network issues, but I would guess thats no longer the case. And I know LTE is designed to handle doppler shifts up to 500km/hr (high speed trains). And its apparently been tested at 700km/hr.

I'm not talking about the announcements - takeoff and landing are by far the riskiest part of any flight, and it's not inconceivable that they would want your full attention for those few mins in case there was a problem.

You realize you are talking about the most contrived of contingencies, right? I'm pretty sure most people would pay attention if they feel the plane hit something. Now I'm sure you could make up a scenario where there is an emergency that is not noticeable to the passengers unless they are 100% focused during landing, but where having each and every passenger notice is absolutely crucial (i.e. there is not 2 seconds to spare for the person next to you to give you a nudge).

Relax. Enjoy your flight. It's the safest way to travel and will remain so.

My understanding is that the "airplane mode" requirement is because a plane flying a 500mph will take the phone through so many cell towers so quickly that it really causes some network issues. Anyone care to elaborate?

No, I don't know who started that rumour but the FAA does not make regulations at the convenience of cell network operators. Furthermore, if this was a real problem networks would already have been designed to handle it as not everyone actually puts their phone in airplane mode. It is simply a precaution because not all cellular radio frequencies were tested and proven not to cause interference with aircraft systems. (Of course it should be pointed out that tens or hundreds of thousands of people have left their cell phones transmitters on without incident, so in a practical sense we know that it is 100% safe to do so. In the next few years this number will grow into the millions. The FAA knows deep down inside that airplane mode is unnecessary too, otherwise cell phones would be banned on airplanes the way gasoline and explosives are.)

I could be the minority, but do people even pick up service while flying anyways?

My understanding is that the "airplane mode" requirement is because a plane flying a 500mph will take the phone through so many cell towers so quickly that it really causes some network issues. Anyone care to elaborate?

No, I don't know who started that rumour but the FAA does not make regulations at the convenience of cell network operators.

I'm not talking about the announcements - takeoff and landing are by far the riskiest part of any flight, and it's not inconceivable that they would want your full attention for those few mins in case there was a problem.

You realize you are talking about the most contrived of contingencies, right? I'm pretty sure most people would pay attention if they feel the plane hit something. Now I'm sure you could make up a scenario where there is an emergency that is not noticeable to the passengers unless they are 100% focused during landing, but where having each and every passenger notice is absolutely crucial (i.e. there is not 2 seconds to spare for the person next to you to give you a nudge).

Relax. Enjoy your flight. It's the safest way to travel and will remain so.

Nothing contrived about an aborted takeoff or a bellyflop onto a runway. In many of these accident situations, the speed with which you get people off the plane, and every sec, count. I know thats one out of millions of flights, but it happens.

My understanding is that the "airplane mode" requirement is because a plane flying a 500mph will take the phone through so many cell towers so quickly that it really causes some network issues. Anyone care to elaborate?

I had a roommate a decade+ ago who worked on the cellular base stations, he said that planes full of phones handing off from tower to tower every couple seconds could cause serious network issues, but I would guess thats no longer the case. And I know LTE is designed to handle doppler shifts up to 500km/hr (high speed trains). And its apparently been tested at 700km/hr.

Good to know. I used to have friends who worked on those base stations. It will be interesting seeing the long term effects of this on networks, given changes in cell sizes and other details as one flies cross country.

I'm not talking about the announcements - takeoff and landing are by far the riskiest part of any flight, and it's not inconceivable that they would want your full attention for those few mins in case there was a problem.

You realize you are talking about the most contrived of contingencies, right? I'm pretty sure most people would pay attention if they feel the plane hit something. Now I'm sure you could make up a scenario where there is an emergency that is not noticeable to the passengers unless they are 100% focused during landing, but where having each and every passenger notice is absolutely crucial (i.e. there is not 2 seconds to spare for the person next to you to give you a nudge).

Relax. Enjoy your flight. It's the safest way to travel and will remain so.

Nothing contrived about an aborted takeoff or a bellyflop onto a runway. In many of these accident situations, the speed with which you get people off the plane, and every sec, count. I know thats one out of millions of flights, but it happens.

The contrivance is to come up with a situation where anything different would occur simply because you've got headphones on. If you bellyflopped on the runway, then I think you'd be instantly alert for crew member instructions. Like having headphones on might cost you a whole second of attention, when there'd actually be like 10-20 second before you'd be able to do anything, anyway. If the plane comes to a standstill much faster than that, then it means you're dead due to the force of sudden deceleration.

To those saying "but you need to disallow electronic devices during takeoff and landing to ensure that passengers are paying attention to the safety briefings and during the most dangerous parts of the flight": unless the FAA is going to ban books and magazines during takeoff and landing, it makes no sense to ban Kindles and iPads.

Also, I can report that I did indeed use my iPad during the entire course of my JetBlue flight today, without incident.

I'm not talking about the announcements - takeoff and landing are by far the riskiest part of any flight, and it's not inconceivable that they would want your full attention for those few mins in case there was a problem.

You realize you are talking about the most contrived of contingencies, right? I'm pretty sure most people would pay attention if they feel the plane hit something. Now I'm sure you could make up a scenario where there is an emergency that is not noticeable to the passengers unless they are 100% focused during landing, but where having each and every passenger notice is absolutely crucial (i.e. there is not 2 seconds to spare for the person next to you to give you a nudge).

Relax. Enjoy your flight. It's the safest way to travel and will remain so.

Nothing contrived about an aborted takeoff or a bellyflop onto a runway. In many of these accident situations, the speed with which you get people off the plane, and every sec, count. I know thats one out of millions of flights, but it happens.

My understanding is that the "airplane mode" requirement is because a plane flying a 500mph will take the phone through so many cell towers so quickly that it really causes some network issues. Anyone care to elaborate?

from my understanding this is somewhat of a myth as well. 2 reasons for this are 1) Most planes act as a pretty good faraday's cage. so the chances of the signal reaching a tower are pretty small.

2) the antenas on cell towers do not emit and recive in all directions instead in 30/60 deg sectors and most are slightly angled down so transmitting from above 2000ft relies on a reflection from something on the ground back up to the tower. at the frequencies and power levels used + distance involved, it is unlikely the signal will reach the tower after bouncing off something

3000 ft with the phone held to the window...maybe, 30k just on in your pocket or the middle of the plane... snowballs chance in hell a tower will see them.

I'm not talking about the announcements - takeoff and landing are by far the riskiest part of any flight, and it's not inconceivable that they would want your full attention for those few mins in case there was a problem.

You realize you are talking about the most contrived of contingencies, right? I'm pretty sure most people would pay attention if they feel the plane hit something. Now I'm sure you could make up a scenario where there is an emergency that is not noticeable to the passengers unless they are 100% focused during landing, but where having each and every passenger notice is absolutely crucial (i.e. there is not 2 seconds to spare for the person next to you to give you a nudge).

Relax. Enjoy your flight. It's the safest way to travel and will remain so.

Nothing contrived about an aborted takeoff or a bellyflop onto a runway. In many of these accident situations, the speed with which you get people off the plane, and every sec, count. I know thats one out of millions of flights, but it happens.

The contrivance is to come up with a situation where anything different would occur simply because you've got headphones on. If you bellyflopped on the runway, then I think you'd be instantly alert for crew member instructions. Like having headphones on might cost you a whole second of attention, when there'd actually be like 10-20 second before you'd be able to do anything, anyway. If the plane comes to a standstill much faster than that, then it means you're dead due to the force of sudden deceleration.

having them on and then hitting a panic situation you might not even think to take them off. Some people deal with extreme danger better than others.

im all for lifting the ban as i always found their reasoning silly. That said it is very real that every second counts and your attention in a take off of landing emergency is the diff between life and death for you and the person next to you/passengers you are blocking the exit path for.

go on youtube and type in Air crash investigation. This is a show that has dissected the FAA reports of almost every major airline incident in history. there is more than one incident where the plane smacked the ground hard/fuel was leaking due to mech failure and people died because the plane wasn't emptied quick enough.

This isnt hypothetical... it has happened!

bringing it back to hypothetical... fire on the right wing right after touching down (fuel leak hit hot breaks) the crew will shout evacuate left side only. you had your headphones in and didnt catch it. you now cost time to fill in again or better keep calm and follow everyone else perfectly... they may be freaking so it might not be suitable and if you think you are that ass that will push everyone out of your way and survive no matter what... i hope for your sake a bigger dude doesn't knock you down cause people have also been trampled to death in these situations.

My understanding is that the "airplane mode" requirement is because a plane flying a 500mph will take the phone through so many cell towers so quickly that it really causes some network issues. Anyone care to elaborate?

from my understanding this is somewhat of a myth as well. 2 reasons for this are 1) Most planes act as a pretty good faraday's cage. so the chances of the signal reaching a tower are pretty small.

Perhaps, but it doesn't stop anyone from making calls and getting data reception while on the ground while on the tarmac.